A (Spring) Day In The Life At Amazing Grace Stables

Ever wonder what happens all day here at Amazing Grace Stables? Come join me in my work for the day! See a quick look at what daily feeding and care is like, plus Springtime chores and preparing for a riding lesson!

7:00 am 

I enjoy the sound of the birds’ songs as I head to the barn for morning feeding. I’m met by eager horses who greet me with whinnies and nickers. First, everyone gets their amount of grain topped with their individual supplements. Dolly’s eye was watering yesterday, so I gave her eye drops. She also has a tincture for her cough, which she happily takes as long as she gets her reward of animal crackers. Next, I give each of them a serving of hay. While everyone is eating, I do my morning wellness check: looking them over for any sign of injury, feeling down their legs, checking for heat, etc. Dolly has a little scrape on her hip, so I doctor that before tending to our other barn animals.

10:00 am 

Knowing that the horses have had plenty of time to eat, I now halter Reina for our training time. I was planning a good bit of under-saddle work today, but as I groom her, Reina tells me she’s feeling a bit skiddish right now. So I chose ground work to help soothe and focus her. We then work on some mounting cues (asking her to step up to the mounting stool). I can see her trying and reward her. Soon we’re making some good progress! I climb on Reina bareback (without a saddle) for a quick ride. We do some work over poles and a few minutes of trotting before finishing our training for the day.

11:00 am

The horses see me coming and immediately line up at the paddock gate. They know it’s time for their turnout, and they are excited. As they trot down to the back field, I follow

them, enjoying the walk. They frolic and prance before going to graze. This pasture doesn’t yet have a permanent fence and is enclosed with electric tape fencing. So I want to be sure that it is all in working order. I mend a small break in the fence on the far side of the pasture before heading back to the barn.

12:00 am

Time for daily mucking. All three stalls and the paddock need to be mucked out. I back the UTV in the barn and begin. I often listen to horse training podcasts and videos while I clean out the barn -it makes the job feel so much quicker, and I get to learn while I work. After I’m done, I get some other barn chores done for our goats and chickens

2:00 pm

I find the water trough dirty. (Cutter is notorious for muddying the water trough, pretty much daily. She puts her front foot into it and splashes all the water out. She thinks it’s so fun.) I drag it away from the fence and dump the remaining muddy water. I make a ‘scrungie’ out of baling twine - perfect for scrubbing with! I use that to clean out the trough with some white vinegar as my cleaning agent. Once it is thoroughly rinsed, I put it back in place and refill it. I run down to the arena next to reset up my poles and barrels in a new pattern for my lesson this afternoon. Next, I go to clean and then fully polish Dolly’s saddle and bridle.

3:00 pm

Time to bring the horse back in from the pasture. I grab Dolly’s halter (if I bring her up, Cutter and Reina will usually follow). Before walking down there, I whistled for them from the paddock. To my delight, all three horses come trotting up. They are thoroughly rewarded with carrots and peppermints. I check each of them for any injuries. No new scratches! I put some more first-aid cream on the scrape I found this morning on Dolly. I groom Dolly to prepare for my lesson.

5:00 pm

I put on Dolly’s lesson halter. (a different halter from the one I use when I’m just working with her. I think she knows this means lessons will soon follow!) I give them some hay to munch on as I pick out Dolly’s hooves and lay out all of my tack and supplies. Dolly’s ears perk up at the sound of a car pulling up to the barn. She gets excited when she sees our student coming (one of our favorite students!). We have a great one-hour riding lesson together. When we’re done, Dolly rejoins Cutter and Reina in the paddock.

7:00 pm

I return to the barn to do our Spring deworming. (We typically deworm our horses twice a year - Spring and Autumn.) We rotate brands and types of dewormers so that no parasite develops a resistance to them. Horse dewormer is generally a flavored paste that comes in a large tube/syringe that we squirt into their mouths. I do Reina first, and she does it beautifully. She takes me about one minute. I praise her and shower her with her favorite treats. Dolly comes next. She’s definitely not a fan of it, but does cooperate. It takes about two or three minutes. The dewormer says it’s apple flavored, but Dolly's expressions say she isn’t fooled. She happily takes her treats afterwards. And finally, it’s Cutter’s turn. I don’t anticipate this being easy. She hates dewormers, and no coaxing or bribery has changed that. Last time, she put up quite a fight. Today proves to be no different. Deworming her took a little over fifteen minutes - and gave me a few bruises when she banged my arm into the stall door and wacked me in the face with her jawbone. But we did it, and she forgave me for having to taste that stuff after a few peppermints.

Afterwards, I start the beet pulp pellets soaking for evening feeding.

8:00 pm

I head to the barn for the last feeding of the day. The beet pulp has finished soaking (we soak this to make sure there are no problems in the digestive tract). I add some grain on top and give this to Cutter; the beet pulp is to help her gain and maintain weight. Dolly and Reina have a little grain. I give them their evening check-over before giving them their hay to eat overnight. I put ointment on Dolly, just above her hooves. This is to help prevent her from getting mud fever (also known as scratches). I feed and check over our goats and chickens and close them in for the night. I go into each of the horses’ stalls again, giving them hugs before telling them goodnight. I flip off the barn lights and walk to the house.

Tomorrow I will do almost all of this again. Yet it somehow doesn’t get old. Yes, there’s always a lot to do, but I love my days being filled with horses. They make my life complete.

Sweet dream, barnyard. I’ll see you all in the morning.